Under fire for poor sanitation, Rohtak MC turn to puppeteer to raise awareness

Under fire for poor sanitary conditions prevailing in Rohtak city, the local Municipal authorities have decided to rope in a puppeteer to motivate residents to play a proactive role in maintenance of cleanliness.

The Rohtak Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Dr Anand Kumar Sharma, said puppeteer Agamjot Kaur and her puppet Gracy were engaged to spread awareness regarding sanitation among the residents.

A video-message of the puppeteer and her puppet regarding maintenance of cleanliness in Rohtak is being circulated on various social media platforms to drive home the message.

“Maintaining cleanliness is a collective social responsibility. We at the Municipal Corporation make all-out efforts to ensure that the city remains clean. But it is not possible to maintain cleanliness without active support and cooperation of the residents,” asserted the Commissioner.

He pointed out that many residents dump their domestic and construction waste in the open, leading to heaps of garbage and debris dotting the city.

“How can we maintain cleanliness if the residents keep on dumping waste at public places round the clock?” he questioned. Sharma warned the residents of taking legal action and imposing fines on those found littering.

The Commissioner also appealed to the residents, owners of commercial organisations and heads of offices to keep and use dustbins for dumping of garbage.

“The residents should also ensure that the garbage is dumped only into the garbage-collection vehicles of the Municipal Corporation,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shambhu Taank, the president of the Rohtak chapter of the Nagar Palika Karmchari Sangh, Haryana, stated that the maintaining cleanliness in the city was a big challenge in view of the acute shortage of cleanliness workers.

“At least 1,500 cleanliness workers are required to clean the area under the jurisdiction of Rohtak Municipal Corporation. However, as of now, we have only around 600 workers. To make matters worse, nearly 200 of these are deployed at the houses of senior officers and at offices,” he said.

The employees’ leader asserted that recruitment of more workers and regularisation of the already serving ones was must for the provision of a permanent solution to the sanitation crisis in the city.